Yesterday, a guy named Bubby Lyles accomplished an objective he started about two weeks ago. He acquired 150,000 retweets on a particular tweet, which meant he earned the opportunity to go on a date with Olympian Lolo Jones. Jones isn't backing down from her promise, either, so it seems that this will actually happen.

Now, props to Lyles for his dedication—a person can only retweet something once, so finding 149,999 other people to do so seems like it would be extremely annoying at times—but why is this a trend now? Kate Upton was asked to prom a couple months ago. Last year, a high school student named Mike Stone asked almost every single porn star to a high school dance last year. There are more examples of this kind of thirst, but many fizzle out and never get news coverage, fortunately.

Advertisement

This probably comes off as crusty, but why exert such effort (and test the limits of friendships with relentless publicizing and plugging) for one date? Why not take that time and exert it on people within your area that you could conceivably see for a second date? Is the ability to go on a one-time date with someone famous worth the effort it takes? Are 150,000 retweets indictive of being worthy enough to date Lolo Jones? Would 100,000 mean you could only date a less successful Olympian?

I don't know the answer to those questions; I'm not Bubby Lyles. I do know that he achieved his goal and gets to hang out with Jones. Like every other trend on the internet, asking celebrities for dates will get stale eventually. Lyles is fortunate enough to get in before the inevitable peak, though.